Yes, I’ve been thinking about getting a nose job. Those model railroaders reading this know that decent chop-nosed first generation EMD diesels are in short supply in the HO scale market. The crux of the problem is that EMD built almost no GP7 or GP9 locomotives with low short hoods. So modelers are left to fend for themselves or use out of date models that don’t look good or run particularly well.

So, I took my first shot at a chop nose this weekend. I’ve got some body work left to do. But I thought I’d give you a first look. Here is my chopped Atlas GP7 in HO scale. For the front of the cab, I just used the front of an Athearn GP38-2 cab. I shaved the cab front off and filed it down to match the early EMD round roof contour.

Eventually, I want to build myself a pair of BN GP10 locomotives. These will be non-dynamic shells, so this one is just practice.